A MYSTERIOUS ‘Banksy-style’ painting has appeared on an Oxfordshire shop wall.

The graffiti image was first spotted on the side of the empty building last week, causing a stir among passers-by.

Manager of nearby pub, the Banbury Cross, Tom Farmer, said he had seen the mural being spray-painted on the wall at 9am on Saturday.

The 27-year-old said: “I don’t think it’s a Banksy because he does it at night.

He added: “I presume it’s the person who owns the building, which is about to turn into a cocktail and wine bar, with flats upstairs.

“He was just in a tracksuit, with a white spray mask on. I think it looks nice.”

No painter or commissioner has yet identified themselves as responsible for the artwork in Butchers Row, behind Banbury High Street, but it is understood to have been organised by the building’s owners.

The ‘French Maid’ mural is based on a real Banksy painting in Chalk Farm, London. It is now largely gone, as someone painted over most of it in 2008 after a fire in Camden Market.

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